Grit?

[Capoken]

My girls are 21 weeks old. I have never given them grit. I am a chicken novice. Should I be giving them grit? They have a 100 SQ FT run with a dirt floor. They free range, but only for an hour here and there, not even every day. They appear to intake dirt both in the run and while free ranging. Thanks in advance for replies!

 

[50-45-1]

Yes, chickens do not have teeth to chew there food. That process is done in the chickens gizzard where the grit gathers and grind up the food that the chicken eats.
My flock free range on the summer, but in winter i always offer a container of grit. I also have another container of oyster shell free choice year arround. Chickens will not harm themself or over eat either of these items. But without acces to either there can be problems.
This is the container i use for both.

 

[Mosey2003]

You want to give them real, proper grit because it improves your feed efficiency. There's no point spending money on feed that they're not getting the full value out of, considering a bag of grit is under $10. And, since it comes up a lot, oyster shell is not a grit substitute, you want granite poultry grit. I use the same feeder as 50-45-1.

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

How often should one feed grit to their chicken? I'm wary of giving them too much 'rocks' so I just spread them sparingly on the ground maybe once a week.... is that enough?

 

[lolli1103]

My girls are 21 weeks old. I have never given them grit. I am a chicken novice. Should I be giving them grit? They have a 100 SQ FT run with a dirt floor. They free range, but only for an hour here and there, not even every day. They appear to intake dirt both in the run and while free ranging. Thanks in advance for replies!

I have only given grit to Chickens who have no access to the ground and chicks in brooders and even then It is not a steady diet of it. Usually once or twice a week seems to work well. So if you chickens are on the ground I would not worry about it. They are good to go.

 

[snow5164]

I gave my chicks budgie grit in the brooder because they got veggies and grass
Regular granite grit should beAvailable 24/7, I’d offer it to all birds because you don’t really know what they have access too .

Have a dish out beside the oyster shells .... if they need it , it’s there !!

 

[GC-Raptor]

I'm still on my first 25# bag of Poultry Grit 29 months later with 5 chickens, now 3. It's available 24/7 in the coop.
They have a 500 square foot pen and free range an hour a day.
They consume mostly when ground is frozen. GC

 

[jolly wattles]

Even if your chickens are on the ground it doesn't hurt to provide them a container of grit. They will eat it if they need it. My chickens have a 1000 sq ft run with dirt and peebles and free range 3 hrs a day. Yet I have to refill their grit I give them about twice a month so obviously they need it.
I've gone a couple months before without offering it to them but as soon as I added it back they went right after it like they missed it.

 

[tripletfeb]

I gave my chicks budgie grit in the brooder because they got veggies and grass
Regular granite grit should beAvailable 24/7, I’d offer it to all birds because you don’t really know what they have access too .

Have a dish out beside the oyster shells .... if they need it , it’s there !!

Budgie grit is not good for chicks, it has too much calcium in it. There is such a thing called chick grit, much better for them.

 

[snow5164]

Budgie grit is not good for chicks, it has too much calcium in it. There is such a thing called chick grit, much better for them.

Obviously there are different products out there , I gave them small size grit , it didn’t have any more calcium the normal grit